By Robert Schaulis, Times-Standard, Eureka, Calif. The Tribune Content Agency
More than 2,000 health care workers will picket Providence hospitals and health care facilities throughout Northern California this Wednesday. The day of action will take place across six sites throughout the region - four hospitals and two hospices across Humboldt, Napa and Sonoma counties - including Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka.
More than 2,000 health care workers represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers have elected to picket, citing "severe understaffing and sharp cuts to health services in communities that are dependent on Providence for their medical care."
"In Humboldt County, we're almost entirely dependent on Providence for medical services, but instead of safeguarding that care, Providence is acting like a greedy monopolist," Kellie Shaner, a telemetry tech at St. Joseph Hospital, said in a news release issued by the union. "Since the pandemic, Providence has closed a local birthing center, rehabilitation center and lab, and we fear more closures are inevitable unless we fight together to keep care and caregivers in our community."
Health care workers at Providence St. Joseph in Eureka will be picketing from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the hospital's 2700 Dolbeer Street location. (Contributed/National Union of Healthcare Workers)
According to the news release, Providence - the nation's fifth-largest nonprofit hospital system - has, since 2020, closed its outpatient labs in Humboldt, Napa and Sonoma counties, closed birthing centers in Humboldt and Sonoma counties and closed the only acute rehab unit in Humboldt County. The company has also closed two urgent care clinics in Sonoma County.
Despite $7.8 billion in financial reserves and a $150 million venture capital arm, the union says that Providence has continuously laid off workers and has sharply reduced available medical services since taking over St. Joseph hospitals throughout Northern California in 2016. Layoffs have also resulted in increased caseloads in areas like Sonoma County, where Providence has laid off hospice workers.
"I remember when we were still St. Joseph, and there was a sincere commitment to doing the right thing for the people in our community," Christina Groverman, a nurse with 27 years of experience working in Sonoma County, now at Providence Hospice in Petaluma, said in the NUHW's press release. "Under Providence, it's all about profit at the expense of patients. We know it's going to be hard to change Providence's approach, but all of us see what's happening, and we're determined to uphold our commitment to the communities we serve."
The NUHW says that it's working to raise pay and benefits to the levels of its largest Northern California competitors, Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health, as well as compel the company to provide "at least five months advanced notice before it closes a service so workers and community members have an opportunity to rally against it."
Providence has thus far rejected that demand and offered its NUHW-represented workers a less-than 2% annual raise, according to the union's press release.
Providence disputes those claims. In a statement provided Tuesday by spokesperson Christian Hill, the company said that "the informational picket which the ... (NUHW) is holding on Feb. 12 relates to our ongoing contract negotiations with the union. Our bargaining teams for each contract have been at the table with NUHW for the past several months, working in good faith to negotiate a contract that is fair and addresses the needs of represented caregivers at each hospital.
"It is important to know that informational pickets are not strikes, but they are a way for unions to inform and develop public support for their position. We acknowledge the rights of our caregivers to be part of a union and to engage in this action. It is also important to note that it is the union, not our caregivers, this is staging this event. The union represents approximately 2,000 caregivers across Northern California, but we expect that a much smaller percent of those caregivers will participate in the informational pickets."
The health care provider also noted that the day of action will not affect the quality of patient care that day.
"The Providence mission calls us to care for all," the statement continues. "This includes our caregivers. We remain profoundly grateful to our caregivers for all they do to serve patients in need. We are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to resolve the remaining outstanding contract issues as quickly as possible, including making sure each contract supports market-competitive wages. We look forward to continuing this process at the negotiating tables."
For some union members, however, that statement may ring hollow. They say that lower wages, low staffing levels and high turnover have made it hard to care for the communities in which they operate.
"Queen of the Valley is my hometown hospital, and I can't be quiet when I see Napa residents waiting longer for care because we're understaffed or our equipment is too old and unreliable," Gabby Caro, a scheduler in the hospital's imaging department, told the NUHW. "We're constantly losing caregivers because Providence pays so much less than Sutter and Kaiser, and that means less care for our community."
Sites involved in the day of action include Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Petaluma Valley Hospital, Hospice of Petaluma and Memorial Hospice - Santa Rosa in Sonoma County; Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa County; and St. Joseph Hospital in Humboldt County.
Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna is also represented by the NUHW but will not be hosting an on-site event for the day of action; rather their workers will be picketing alongside St. Joseph workers in Eureka.
The action at St. Joseph will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. at 2700 Dolbeer Street in Eureka.
Robert Schaulis can be reached at 707-441-0585.